What kind of experience do you have with an Alzheimer’s patient? Share it in the Comments Below!
Alzheimer’s is not always a terrible experience. There can be many happy times with the Alzheimer’s patient.
Dad was a laid back kind of guy. He was very funny and never lost his temper that I recall. It was pretty sad for all of us when he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. We didn’t know what to expect and wondered if his personality would change. Would he become violent? Would he wander off? Only time would tell.
Fortunately, Dad’s personality remained constant and, though he didn’t know us, he would still joke around. Even when he wasn’t trying to be funny. He would say the darnedest things.
One night after my mother brought his dinner on a tray to him in his favorite chair, he remarked “hey, you’re a pretty good cook. We’ve got some spare rooms upstairs if you’d like to stay over.”
Between “What have you done with my wife” to my mom in curlers, and “well, I’ll be, I’ve never seen anything like that in my life” on the fourth time we saw some flamingos, we had some good times.
When he brought some doodad home from a neighbor’s yard sale and I asked what it was, he said: “I don’t know, but it was only a dime”. He enjoyed life even then and once we learned how to cope, we enjoyed life too.
Alzheimer’s can be tolerable if we can go with the flow and live in the moment. Enjoy the time you have. It goes by quickly.
